Movie: Kishkindhapuri
Rating: 2.5/5
Banner: Shine Screens
Cast: Bellamkonda Sreenivas, Anupama Parameswaran, Hyper Aadi, Srikanth Iyengar, Bhadram, Nellore Sudarshan, Makarand Deshpande, Tanikella Bharani, and others
Music: Chaitan Bharadwaj
DOP: Chinmay Salaskar
Editor: Niranjan Devaramane
Production Designer: Manisha A. Dutt
Producer: Sahu Garapati
Written and Directed by: Koushik Pegallapati
Release Date: September 12, 2025
Bellamkonda Srinivas receives better appreciation when he sticks to genre-driven films, as seen in the success of Rakshasudu. Reuniting with Anupama Parameswaran after Rakshasudu, he once again chose a genre-specific project.
Let’s find out if this combination turned out to be another success.
Story:
Raghav (Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas) and Mythili (Anupama Parameswaran) are lovers who work for a travel agency that conducts ghost walking tours. One day, they take a group of people to an abandoned radio station – Suvarnamaya.
To their shock, they encounter the dead radio station broadcasting news. Terrified, they flee the place. A few days later, Raghav and Mythili discover that two of the people who visited the radio station have died under mysterious circumstances.
Determined to prevent more deaths, they set out to uncover the identity of the ghost. They learn that a man named Viswaputra is behind the haunting.
Why is Viswaputra hunting down these people and killing them? What is the true story behind the Suvarnamaya Radio Station?
Artistes’ Performances:
Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas gets the scope to showcase his acting skills in a crucial episode during the final act. He utilizes the opportunity to portray two distinct variations in his performance. In the rest of the film, he sticks to his usual style.
Anupama Parameswaran gets her moment in the concluding scenes. As seen in the trailer, she delivers her best act in the sequences where she is possessed.
The actor who plays Viswaputra is effective in his role. Veteran actress Prema is adequate in her brief appearance, though her makeup is poorly done.
Sudarshan and Hyper Aadi deliver their regular comedic antics.
Makrand Deshpande and Tanikella Bharani do justice to their respective roles. On the other hand, Srikanth Iyengar and Vadlamani Srinivas are completely wasted.
Technical Excellence:
The highlights of the film are the background score and sound design. Chaitan Bharadwaj skillfully blends devotional tracks with eerie soundscapes to enhance the mood during crucial sequences. The sound design effectively amplifies the impact of these moments.
The production design and art direction are adequate for the genre, creating a suitably atmospheric setting. However, the visual effects fall short of expectations.
The cinematography is decent, serving the story without standing out. Although the film has a relatively short runtime, the first half could have been trimmed further for a tighter narrative.
Highlights:
Two episodes in second half
Background score and sound design
Drawback:
Predictable flashback for ghost
Many episodes are dull
Early scenes
Analysis
“Kishkindhapuri” is merely the name of the place where the story unfolds. The plot is as generic as any typical horror genre film. It strongly reminds us of several Hollywood movies, as well as recent Telugu and Tamil horror thrillers. In particular, the reason behind the ghost’s killing is highly predictable.
These kinds of films do not rely on a strong plot but rather on creating eerie moments and keeping the audience engaged through a few well-crafted episodes.
The film takes its time to build up the premise, but once the main cast enters the abandoned radio station and the supernatural elements come into play, it manages to draw us in. It holds fair engagement until the interval, but doesn’t leave much of an impression, especially since the interval bang feels quite plain.
Fortunately, “Kishkindhapuri” picks up in the second half. It keeps the audience’s attention as the ghost’s backstory is revealed, and the episodes where the spirit possesses various bodies are executed effectively. Though it's an engaging experience while watching that part, towards the end it sounds unconvincing.
There are two key episodes that work particularly well, one involving Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas portraying two variations of his character, and another featuring Anupama Parameswaran in a hospital sequence. These moments prove the acting skills of both the actors but sounds repetitive as the ghost keeps on changing bodies to possess others.
However, the reason behind Vishravaputra’s rampage could have been more convincing than what is eventually presented. The film tries to incorporate a devotional angle centered around Lord Sriram, which works to some extent, but the emotional aspect falls flat. The mother’s character arc is poorly handled and fails to evoke any real empathy.
Kishkindhapuri is a fairly generic horror film. For Bellamkonda Sai Srinivas, whose recent outings have mostly been mindless action dramas, this film offers a welcome change of pace.
Overall, Kishkindhapuri works partly, with certain episodes in the latter half being engaging. However, the overall plot remains largely predictable and at times unconvincing. The strong background score and sound design compensate for these shortcomings. Keep expectations under check.
Bottom-line: Not So Frightful
